An economics, investment, trading and policy blog with a focus on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). We seek the truth, avoid the mainstream and are virulently anti-neoliberalism.
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Thursday, March 25, 2021
The Most Powerful Woman On Earth? — Boris Schlossberg
Yes, please elaborate on why MMT is a dead-end politically?
My own reasons are that MMT MUST produce a little price inflation just in order to know the output gap is closed. That's fine but government privileges for the banks mean we can't know if price inflation is produced in a manner that does not violate equal protection under the law.
Besides, price inflation is not that big of a problem IF it is produced ethically (eg. via an equal Citizen's Dividend). But with MMT, price inflation IS a big deal, lest the non-rich revolt. But here's the problem: MMT measures to control price inflation via taxation must necessarily fall on the non-rich since the rich don't consume enough to matter - that'll go over like a lead balloon.
1. MMT won't lead to a Job Guarantee. That requires an informed, organized electorate. 1b. Won't lead to bank reform, or a Citizen's Dividend.
2. The buffer stock concept will remain where it is now - in academia.
3. Deficit spending has always been possible under different guises. The criteria for what is possible is tied to what the ruling class wants. They tend to invest in whatever will enhance their power, everything else be damned.
4. MMT can be used to spin narratives that oppose the need for tax increases, or to justify support for every special interest that has a politician's ear.
I've been following this blog for over a decade. Nothing has fundamentally changed in the electorate's understanding. There is excitement amongst the punditry, but how does that translate into policy?
AOC put MMT into the spotlight, but now she has been exposed as a careerist. Stephanie Kelton is no substitute for what a politician can do as part of their job. A politician is but an extension of a political movement. AOC's movement consists of Twitter followers.
I don't see reason to be optimistic.
What drives political change? Is it pressure from below, or does it come from an enlightened elite?
You may as well call MMT Modern Munificence Theory.
The US is the only developed country that has refused to support its citizens with temporary income support payments. You are limited to extensions of unemployment insurance. Look at what other countries are doing and compare. It's extraordinary.
Let me state the impression I get from visiting one too many American political websites: "Too many blacks and hispanics in the US. They'll take advantage of the government programs (education, healthcare, etc.). Where will it end?
Funny, on those same websites there's hardly a mention of corporate/military government welfare programs.
I don't mean that SK is actually the most important personality but arguably the most important economic influencer, which is the author's point, I think.
The debate has shifted substantially and The Deficit Myth appear to play a large role in this. Of course, it didn't come out of nowhere. We are already in "the last mile," as Bill liked to say, considering the history of MMT and its influence from the outset in the mid-90s.
Now the debate is shifting to the inflation constraint instead of fiscal responsibility, and now, just about every oppositional seems to feel compelled to mention MMT, often in quotes to indicate disapproval.
And I think that the appearance of posts like this on financial blog and in the financial press is an indication of it. Again, SK is to some degree behind this since see spent years addressing financial gatherings.
She put in the time and effort and now it is showing.
Nothing has fundamentally changed in the electorate's understanding
The electorate will be the last to get it. But what they are hearing is shifting.
I recall a study of some decades ago that showed how ordinary people are 50 to 100 years behind the cutting edge. I don't know whether that has changed with the Internet, but the public is still way behind the curve.
"will be the last" seems like a very, very long time away
As I have said previously, I don't see any meaningful change happening politically in the US before 2032, at the earliest, and even then it won't be substantial unless the US falls into depression.
Technology doesn't dominate politics. Under a Technate, the price system would be replaced with energy accounting. Scientists and engineers would run society, do the math, and allocate energy consumption credits to each individual.
In geographic area, Nova Scotia is the southernmost province in Canada. Although it is a peninsula, it is referred to as the mainland (vis a vis Cape Breton Island).
Maine is populated with mostly French Canadian ex-pats.
Met a Greek-American who grew up in Maine. Told me how he and a bunch of Americans French Canadian heritage (Catholics) would team up to fight the bullying American Wasps.
Mother Nature.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering what it will take, for you to realize that MMT is a dead end politically.
How much writing does there have to be on the wall?
Why do you say this?
ReplyDeletePermanent minority (contrarian) dialogic anti-thesis...
ReplyDeleteLink does not work.
ReplyDeleteYes, please elaborate on why MMT is a dead-end politically?
ReplyDeleteMy own reasons are that MMT MUST produce a little price inflation just in order to know the output gap is closed. That's fine but government privileges for the banks mean we can't know if price inflation is produced in a manner that does not violate equal protection under the law.
Besides, price inflation is not that big of a problem IF it is produced ethically (eg. via an equal Citizen's Dividend). But with MMT, price inflation IS a big deal, lest the non-rich revolt. But here's the problem: MMT measures to control price inflation via taxation must necessarily fall on the non-rich since the rich don't consume enough to matter - that'll go over like a lead balloon.
I thought maybe either Oprah or Beyonce, but ok...
ReplyDeleteWho does Boris reckon is the most powerful man?
1. MMT won't lead to a Job Guarantee. That requires an informed, organized electorate.
ReplyDelete1b. Won't lead to bank reform, or a Citizen's Dividend.
2. The buffer stock concept will remain where it is now - in academia.
3. Deficit spending has always been possible under different guises. The criteria for what is possible is tied to what the ruling class wants. They tend to invest in whatever will enhance their power, everything else be damned.
4. MMT can be used to spin narratives that oppose the need for tax increases, or to justify support for every special interest that has a politician's ear.
I've been following this blog for over a decade. Nothing has fundamentally changed in the electorate's understanding. There is excitement amongst the punditry, but how does that translate into policy?
AOC put MMT into the spotlight, but now she has been exposed as a careerist. Stephanie Kelton is no substitute for what a politician can do as part of their job. A politician is but an extension of a political movement. AOC's movement consists of Twitter followers.
I don't see reason to be optimistic.
What drives political change?
Is it pressure from below, or does it come from an enlightened elite?
You may as well call MMT Modern Munificence Theory.
1b.... or a Citizen's Dividend. Peter Pan
ReplyDeleteCovid may do that since that recent $1400 direct deposit was a nice surprise (I was expecting a paper check) for me as well as many others.
As for bank reform, the MMT crowd is AGAINST it - even though banks are as unpopular as ever with the general population.
That's the real fault of the MMT School - they are bank toadies.
The US is the only developed country that has refused to support its citizens with temporary income support payments. You are limited to extensions of unemployment insurance. Look at what other countries are doing and compare. It's extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteSeeing Max Kaiser as a guest on Jimmy Dore is enough to induce despair.
ReplyDeleteThe US is more ideological than most countries and resists pragmatic solutions. But when the ideology changes, a lot can happen fast...
ReplyDeleteIs Max Kaiser still a gold-bug?
ReplyDeleteBitcoin bug now...
ReplyDelete"Bitcoin To Hit $220,000 This Year" predicts Max Keiser
ReplyDeleteWarning: this video may be triggering.
Hope Steve Grumbine gets an invite on JD to counter this.
Kelton was advising Bernie Sanders. What happened? (Rhetorical)
ReplyDeleteLet me state the impression I get from visiting one too many American political websites: "Too many blacks and hispanics in the US. They'll take advantage of the government programs (education, healthcare, etc.). Where will it end?
ReplyDeleteFunny, on those same websites there's hardly a mention of corporate/military government welfare programs.
“ Funny, on those same websites there's hardly a mention of corporate/military government welfare programs.”
ReplyDeleteGive it up already analogy doesn’t work... same with the “points on a scoreboard!” analogy....
NO ANALOGY works... figure it out already...
Why do you say this?
ReplyDeleteI don't mean that SK is actually the most important personality but arguably the most important economic influencer, which is the author's point, I think.
The debate has shifted substantially and The Deficit Myth appear to play a large role in this. Of course, it didn't come out of nowhere. We are already in "the last mile," as Bill liked to say, considering the history of MMT and its influence from the outset in the mid-90s.
Now the debate is shifting to the inflation constraint instead of fiscal responsibility, and now, just about every oppositional seems to feel compelled to mention MMT, often in quotes to indicate disapproval.
And I think that the appearance of posts like this on financial blog and in the financial press is an indication of it. Again, SK is to some degree behind this since see spent years addressing financial gatherings.
She put in the time and effort and now it is showing.
Has the last mile closed? Not yet.
Poor Tom Hickey,
ReplyDeleteA would-be socialist duped and salivating over a fascist economic "solution."
“I've been following this blog for over a decade. Nothing has fundamentally changed in the electorate's understanding. “
ReplyDeleteHe’s right. If anything, things have regressed.
Nothing has fundamentally changed in the electorate's understanding
ReplyDeleteThe electorate will be the last to get it. But what they are hearing is shifting.
I recall a study of some decades ago that showed how ordinary people are 50 to 100 years behind the cutting edge. I don't know whether that has changed with the Internet, but the public is still way behind the curve.
For example, George Conway, whose twitter account I follow -- every week he tweets something about the US national debt being unsustainable, etc.
ReplyDeleteThen there's Dylan Ratigan tweeting not too long ago that, basically, you Americans are too stupid for MMT.
Now don't get me started on the major news networks :(
So let's revisit this topic in another 10 years :)
"The electorate will be the last to get it. But what they are hearing is shifting."
ReplyDeleteTom, "will be the last" seems like a very, very long time away.
"will be the last" seems like a very, very long time away
ReplyDeleteAs I have said previously, I don't see any meaningful change happening politically in the US before 2032, at the earliest, and even then it won't be substantial unless the US falls into depression.
Kelton was advising Bernie Sanders. What happened? (Rhetorical)
ReplyDeleteThe sheepdog ran the show, and ignored the shepherd.
The electorate will be the last to get it. But what they are hearing is shifting.
They will never get it.
They will be told what to believe, because they are passive.
The discrediting of AOC and the squad has MMT as a casualty.
All they have to do is convert over to Science from their current Socrates...,
ReplyDeleteAll they have to do is convert over to Science from their current Socrates...,
ReplyDeletePersuasion, which is what popularization is, is necessarily rhetorical.
"Science" implies math, and there is a rule of thumb in popular writing that you lose half your readership in each successive equation.
Matt would have led the technocracy movement of the 1930s.
ReplyDeleteBut he was born too late.
Both are anachronisms.
Socrates 2021 would remind us of George Carlin.
ReplyDeleteWe need to clone George Carlin.
ReplyDeleteOne Carlin for each language; to be dispatched across the world.
“ Science" implies math, and there is a rule of thumb in popular writing that you lose half your readership”
ReplyDeleteWell then you tell them they are stupid and uneducated and to stay out if it....
People drive their cars over bridges every day and they don’t have to know how to design them...
Leave it to the people technically trained and qualified....
“Matt would have led the technocracy movement of the 1930s.
ReplyDeleteBut he was born too late.
Both are anachronisms.”
LOL like technology isn’t DOMINATING everything right now.... it’s all people ever talk about...
Completely dominating.... mRNA, SpaceX, hypersonic missiles, blockchain, cryptos, nasdaq100, EVs, 5G, GPUs, ....
Where do you live out at the end of a remote northern peninsula ?
Technology doesn't dominate politics.
ReplyDeleteUnder a Technate, the price system would be replaced with energy accounting. Scientists and engineers would run society, do the math, and allocate energy consumption credits to each individual.
In geographic area, Nova Scotia is the southernmost province in Canada.
Although it is a peninsula, it is referred to as the mainland (vis a vis Cape Breton Island).
Song about Cape Breton
ReplyDeleteMeat Cove, btw, is populated by Yankee ex-pats.
Peter Pan,
ReplyDeleteCape Breton is very hilly. I grew up in Saskatchewan.
Kinda Flat
Corner Gas was a classic. I've driven through Saskatchewan, but never had time to visit the province. People there have a distinctive accent.
ReplyDeleteFrom the theme song:
"You can watch your dog run away, and out here it can take 3 days"
Is it true you have a seagull problem?
Peter Pan,
ReplyDelete"Is it true you have a seagull problem?"
Some places have more than others.
Gull Lake, Saskatchewan
Grasslands National Park.
ReplyDeleteI saw the sign but was too tired from driving.
So I didn't visit :(
Would've been a great day to gaze up at the land of living skies, on the lookout for seagulls.
Born in the land of Je me souviens, I now live in Canada's ocean playground.
"Meat Cove, btw, is populated by Yankee ex-pats."
ReplyDeleteMaine is populated with mostly French Canadian ex-pats.
Met a Greek-American who grew up in Maine. Told me how he and a bunch of Americans French Canadian heritage (Catholics) would team up to fight the bullying American Wasps.
"Born in the land of Je me souviens,"
ReplyDeleteI in La Belle Province.
"I now live in Canada's ocean playground"
Water is too damn cold.
Do you mean to say the Aroostook War continues?
ReplyDeleteThere is a beach in Nova Scotia where the shallow ocean waters become as warm as the Caribbean after a sunny summer afternoon.